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Romano heads back to Queen's Park

The Ontario legislature returns Monday and that means Sault MPP Ross Romano will be heading back to his desk in Toronto.

With nine months left until the next provincial election, Romano, who received the nod from voters in a June 1 byelection, will head to his seat at Queen’s Park.

Romano says he has a full slate ahead of him for the fall and expects the fall sitting of the legislature to be a busy one.

“I will get my opportunity to ask my first question in the legislature Monday,” Romano said in a telephone interview.

While he wouldn’t spill the beans on what that question is, Romano said he also has two different private member’s bills he’s working on and hopes to have introduced sometime in the near future.

His research is in the early stages for a private member’s bill he hopes to introduce to help Ontarians who need to travel for health care procedures.

Romano said while Ontarians receive some money from Trillium for out-of-town stays required for complicated procedures, like transplants, the funding is not nearly enough to pay rent and live close to health care facilities.

Ontarians receive a maximum of $650 per month for rent, while PEI residents receive $1,000, Newfoundland $3,000 and New Brunswick $800.

“There’s an inequity for Ontarians, especially those from the North who have to travel for certain procedures and then spend three months close to hospitals and doctors to be monitored,” he said. “It’s something that certainly needs to be addressed.”

A second private member’s bill Romano is also penning centres on a potential amendment to the Municipal Act.

Romano said if it is passed, the amendment could result in changes to how some decisions by municipal governments are made.

The former Ward 6 city councillor said he wants to see any “major changes” by municipal governments first have a waiting period to allow various parties – for or against – an opportunity to present views to city council.

The key, he said, is to ensure that any amendment does not prevent the municipal government from continuing with their everyday business.

“I don’t want to handcuff municipalities from doing business but we need to address some wording changes to allow a notification period for the communities to have their say and present their case,” he said.

Romano thinks back to his time on city council when the fire realignment plan was presented and passed by council.

While he initially supported the resolution based on the information he had at the time, allowing more time to understand, research and hear from stakeholders could have resulted in a wiser decision, he admits.

“I want to enhance transparency in municipal government and include the principles of fairness and duty to respond, like as a lawyer, I see in my (career) field,” he said.

Other business at hand this fall in the Ontario legislature will be debates on changing labour legislation including raising the minimum wage to $15, a new pharmacare program and electricity pricing, among others.

“All of us would love to get the minimum wage increased to $15 but it’s got to be slower, at the rate of inflation,” he said. “A quick implementation doesn’t give business adequate time to prepare for the increasing costs and that will put jobs at risk.”

During his first legislature constituency week break, between Oct. 6-14, Romano is hoping to meet with the five First Nation communities in the Ring of Fire.

The file, he said, has been a top priority for him throughout the summer months. He’s worked with Algoma and the Port of Algoma, along with Noront Resources, to determine if there are ways that a legal agreement could be inked to provide assurances to Noront that lands would be available for lease should they choose to build a ferrochrome plant in Sault Ste. Marie.